1976 Vancouver, Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley
1976 BC Interior
1976 Vancouver Island
OKANAGAN-MAINLINE BASEBALL LEAGUE
Kelowna waited until just before the opening game of the schedule to announce that they were a last-minute dropout, leaving the circuit with just three entries for 1976. Each club played just six games in the compressed schedule.
Kamloops Colts
Lumby Loggers
Vernon Lakers
(May 16) The season opener at Lumby was marred by a pair of unfortunate incidents. With Kamloops and the hosting Loggers deadlocked at 5 – 5 in the fourth inning, Peter Brooks, Lumby’s only experienced pitcher, was badly spiked and had to leave the game. Kamloops went on to win the game 21 to 5. First-inning reliever Claude LeFebvre hurled eight-plus frames to earn the pitching victory after Kamloops’ starter John Hogg was nicked in the face for seven stitches by a cutoff throw. John Anhorn ripped a three-run homer, to go along with a triple and two singles, in pacing the Thompson Rivers’ nine at the dish.
(May 23) Visiting Kamloops nosed out the Vernon Lakers 7 to 6 at Polson Park. Catcher Cal Cooper lit up losing flinger Daryl Leier for a grand-slam home run in the fourth frame to start the invaders on the road to victory. John Hogg was the winning heaver.
(June 6) The Vernon Lakers and Kamloops divided the spoils in an Okanagan Mainline League double-bill. The Lakers won the opener 7 to 0 but dropped the nightcap 9 to 3 to the hosts.
In the matinee tussle, Wayne Dye, making his first start on the knoll in two years, fired a three-hit shutout for the Vernonites. The losing chucker was Keith Groff. Leo Gauthier had three of the Lakers’ eleven hits with a double and two singles. Charlie Briskham clubbed a two-bagger and a single while Dye and Jeff Todd each added a pair of one-base raps.
Kamloops’ John Hogg bested Vernon southpaw Daryl Leier in the nightcap battle for mound supremacy. The Lakers started off in grand style, riding the wave of Charlie Briskham’s leadoff home run, but things turned badly for the visitors thereafter as five fielding miscues and eight stranded baserunners magnified the gloom. Leier was pulled in the eighth episode with the score standing at 6 – 3 in Kamloops’ favor but reliever Clark Inglis served up a three-run dinger to Cal Cooper which more than sealed the deal. Jeff Todd, with two singles, was Vernon’s top hitter in the affair.
(June 13) It took an extra inning for Kamloops to take a close 4 to 2 verdict from the Lumby Loggers. Playing errorless ball behind the efforts of winning tosser Vince Smith, Kamloops broke a 2 – 2 tie in the top-of-the-tenth canto by plating a deuce with the winning blow being provided by a single off the bat of Cal Cooper. John Anhorn cracked a double and a brace of one-baggers to pace the victors’ 14-hit offense against losing chucker Peter Brooks. Marcel Charest, also with a two-bagger and a pair of singles, was best with the baton for the losing Loggers.
STANDINGS W L Pct.
Kamloops 4 1 .800
Vernon 1 2 .333
Lumby 0 2 .000
(June 24) Playing their first game in over two weeks, the Vernon Lakers banged out 16 base blows and thumped the Lumby Loggers 12 to 2. The long layoff seemed to have no effect upon the batting prowess of the Lakers as Ed Folk, Wayne Dye, Leo Gauthier and Daryl Leier each stung the spheroid for three hits while Dave Caldow contributed a single and a double. Folk, who had a double and a pair of singles, knocked in three runs and scored three himself. Gauthier and Dye split the pitching chores with Gauthier getting credit for the win. Lumby’s Peter Brooks was tagged with the loss.
(June 27) The Vernon Lakers improved their won-loss record in Okanagan-Mainline League play to 3 – 2 with another one-sided conquest of the Lumby Loggers, this time trouncing the visitors 8 to 1 at Polson Park. Winning pitcher Daryl Leier scattered seven hits while ringing up 14 punchouts in the nine-inning affair. The Loggers took a short-lived lead in the top-of-the-opening inning when Dick McLeod singled, moved to third on Marcel Charest’s double and scored on Al Beck’s infield grounder. The Lakers bounced right back with three tallies in the bottom-half of the first and put the result on ice with a four-spot in the seventh plus a singleton in the eighth. Dave Caldow was the leading willow wielder for the victors, stroking three singles which resulted in a pair of RBI’s. Ed Johnstone swatted a double and single while Clark Inglis and Leo Gauthier both clubbed two singles.
(July 11) Overcoming an early 4 – 0 deficit, Kamloops clinched the 1976 OMBL pennant by edging out the Lumby Loggers 7 to 6 at Norbrock Stadium. The big stick for the winners was Les Swaine who laced a triple and single.
(July 17) A first-game 5 to 2 loss to the Sexsmith Rainiers eliminated the Vernon Lakers from the Quesnel Billy Barker Days tournament. Kamloops was a bit more fortunate, winning their opening game 14 to 4 over the Cariboo A’s before falling to the Prince George All-Stars 6 to 5.
(July 22) Behind the brilliant three-hit pitching of Daryl Leier, the Vernon Lakers blanked the Lumby Loggers 7 to 0. The game was scoreless until the sixth session when Vernon’s Wayne Dye went yard with a two-run dinger off losing twirler Peter Brooks. Jeff Todd had three hits, including a brace of two-baggers while Ed Folk and Clark Inglis both hit safely twice.
FINAL
STANDINGS W L Pct.
Kamloops 5 1 .833
Vernon 4 2 .667
Lumby 0 6 .000
NO PLAYOFFS WERE HELD
(July 30-August 2) B.C. Senior Amateur Baseball championship tournament
1976 Okanagan-Mainline League all-star roster : Briskham Charlie (Vernon) SS, Brooks Peter (Lumby) P, Caldow Dave (Vernon) 3B, Charest Marcel (Lumby) 2B, Chambers Terry (Vernon) MGR, Cooper Cam (Kamloops) OF, Dye Wayne (Vernon) P, Flann John (Kamloops) C, Gauthier Leo (Vernon) P, Hogg John (Kamloops) P, Johnstone Ed (Vernon) OF, Kemp Robbie (Kamloops)1B, Leier Daryl (Vernon) P, McLeod Al (Kamloops) OF, Perepolkin Fred (Vernon) OF, Smith Vince (Kamloops) P, Todd Jeff (Vernon) OF
WEST KOOTENAY BASEBALL
With senior-level baseball still in a severe slump, the highest calibre of baseball in the West Kootenays in 1976 was once again offered as a product of the Selkirk Senior Babe Ruth Baseball League. Despite the departure of Nelson from the circuit, the loop expanded from four to five entries with the inclusion of two Washington state teams.
(May 16) West Trail Blues’ hurler Bob Elliott struck out ten, walked four and hit one batter in posting a no-hitter at Butler Park but another outstanding pitching performance by East Trail left-hander Ron Bergen resulted in a 1 to 0 win for the Reds in Selkirk Senior Babe Ruth League action. Bergen gave up only one hit, a two-out single to Elliott in the fourth frame. The lone tally in the clash came in the fourth when East Trail’s Steve Como walked, moved to second on a free pass to Bergen and eventually came around to touch home following a pair of passed balls. Both evenly-matched Smelter City teams now sport 4 – 2 won-loss records.
(June 2) Right-hander Rick Cescon punched out 18 batters, walked none and came within three outs of a perfect game as the West Trail Blues hammered Beaver Valley 9 to 3. Two doubles, a single and an error in the final stanza broke Cescon’s spell over the Big T squad and resulted in their three runs.
(June 3) Front-running Colville won for the sixth straight time, thrashing East Trail 10 to 3 at Butler Park. Dale Munson fanned ten batters in recording the complete-game win.
(June 5) Beaver Valley won for just the second time, knocking Colville from the ranks of the undefeated with a 2 to 0 conquest behind the one-hit, ten-strikeout pitching of Tim McMahon.
STANDINGS W L Pct.
Colville 7 1 .875
West Trail 8 5 .616
East Trail 6 5 .545
Northport 3 6 .333
Beaver Valley 2 9 .182
(June 20) Northport upset the East Trail Reds, sweeping a doubleheader by scores of 11 to 1 and 8 to 6, to grab the final playoff spot in the playoffs.
FINAL
STANDINGS W L Pct.
Colville 11 4 .733
West Trail 10 6 .625
East Trail 9 7 .563
Northport 5 10 .333
Beaver Valley 4 12 .250
PLAYOFFS
SEMI-FINALS Northport vs Colville & East Trail vs West Trail (sudden-death games)
(June 22) Fourth-place Northport stunned the first-place Colville aggregation with a 5 to 4 road victory.
(June 24) The third-place East Trail Reds knocked runner-up West Trail from the playoffs by blanking the Blues 6 to 0 at Butler Park. Portsider Ron Bergen struck out 14, walked three and surrendered just two hits in recording the shutout mound triumph. Bergen also starred at the plate as he knocked in three runs with a bases-loaded double in the fourth frame.
FINALS Northport vs East Trail (sudden-death game)
(June 27) The Northport team completed its Cinderella story by knocking off the East Trail Reds 7 to 5 at Butler Park to win the 1976 Selkirk Senior Babe Ruth League championship. The Washingtonians, who only snuck into the playoffs on the final day of the regular schedule, combined a strong hitting attack with sloppy East Trail fielding to build up a 7 – 0 lead and then hung on in the late stages of the game to preserve the victory. Fourth-inning reliever Dale Ochs was credited with the heaving verdict while left-hander Steve Como was tagged with the defeat.
(June 30 – July 4) Fifth annual Trail Invitational Baseball tournament
(July 28) B.C. Senior Babe Ruth Championship Tournament
QUESNEL SENIOR BASEBALL LEAGUE
With Prince George returning the senior baseball after a ten-year absence, two newly-formed entries from the Spruce Capital joined the league in 1976 which increased membership in the circuit to six teams. The newcomers were highly competitive and both finished in a three-way tie for second place.
Billy Barker Inn
Cariboo Clippers
Jen’s Hobos
Kopetski A’s
Prince George Labatts
Prince George Martin & Sons Loggers
(July 16-18) Quesnel Bill Barker Tournament
FINAL STANDINGS W L Pts.
Jen’s Hobos 13 9 26
Prince George Labatts 12 10 24
Billy Barker Inn 12 10 24
Prince George Loggers 12 10 24
Kopetski A’s 11 11 22
Cariboo Clippers 6 16 12
PLAYOFFS
SEMI-FINALS (best-of-three series)
(August 10) PG Labatts 5 PG Loggers 4
No game details published
(August 10) Jen’s Hobos – 4 Billy Barker – 4 (game called after seven innings)
Vic Sloan (Hobos) – RBI single in sixth inning to tie score
(August 11) Billy Barker – 10 Jen’s Hobos – 3
WP - Tom Spooner (three-hitter) LP – Harold Toombs
(August 12) PG Labatts 8 PG Loggers 2
WP – Brian Gates LP – Al Cameron
(August 12) Jen’s Hobos – 13 Billy Barker – 3
WP – Bruno Rogger LP- Steve Hruska Jim Booth (Hobos) 4 RBI’s
(August 24) Billy Barker 6 Jen’s Hobos – 5
WP – Barry Walker LP – not known
FINALS
No inter-city final series between Quesnel and Prince George champions took place.
BULKLEY VALLEY BASEBALL LEAGUE
Houston Bees
Moricetown Braves
Smithers Glaciers
Terrace
FINAL STANDINGS W L GBL
Terrace 9 3 ----
Smithers Glaciers 9 3 ----
Houston Bees 6 6 3.0
Moricetown Braves 0 12 9.0